A single orthopedic surgeon in West Islip, New York can command $850,000 to reassemble knees, hips, and shoulders — roughly the same annual figure a colleague in Oakland, Maryland might see doubled and still not reach. That is the Orthopedics market in 2026: a specialty where the ceiling flirts with seven figures and the floor sits at a number most other physicians would happily accept. PhysEmp identified 226 active Orthopedics listings across 45 states, with 36 disclosing compensation. The data reveals a specialty defined less by geography than by the willingness of any given employer to put a number on paper.
👉 Explore Orthopedics job market insights and trends

The Orthopedics Job Market at a Glance

Total listings: 226
Listings with salary data: 36
Full national salary range: $350,000 to $1,003,000
National average range: $599,535 to $671,463

The spread is wide enough to fly a helicopter through. A $653,000 gap separates the floor from the ceiling, and the average low ($599,535) alone would place an orthopedist comfortably inside the top decile of U.S. household income. The upper band, meanwhile, brushes against numbers usually reserved for hedge fund partners (or their orthopedists).

States represented: New York, Illinois, West Virginia, Florida, California, Ohio, Maryland, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Minnesota, Missouri, Tennessee, Washington, Iowa, North Carolina, Oregon, Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wyoming, Texas, Maine, Michigan, Virginia, Nebraska, Kansas, Utah, Alabama, New Hampshire, Arizona, Indiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Vermont, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Connecticut, and Idaho.
👉 Browse Orthopedics physician job opportunities

How States Stack Up

Overperformers:

• Iowa: $850,000 average — the highest disclosed figure in the country, from a single listing that punches well above its cornfield weight.
• Oregon: $810,000 on one listing, suggesting the Pacific Northwest is quietly paying surgeons like tech executives.
• West Virginia: $700,000 to $800,000, a scarcity premium hiding in plain sight.
• Illinois: $668,750 to $737,500, anchored by a Dekalb listing that tops out at $875,000.
• New York: $648,132 to $732,333, the rare high-volume state that also pays like one.
• Colorado: $620,000 to $688,000, slightly above the national floor and geographically desirable (mountains cost extra).

Near-average:

• Missouri: $575,000 to $612,500, textbook median.
• Massachusetts: $500,000 to $550,000, below what its cost of living should command.
• California: $480,000 to $550,000, which — adjusted for a San Francisco mortgage — is arguably a pay cut.

Underperformers:

• Ohio: $400,000 to $550,000, below the national low.
• Florida: a flat $450,000 on one listing (sunshine is apparently part of the compensation package).
• Maryland, New Jersey, Vermont: all tied at $350,000 to $400,000, the national floor.

Volume leaders: Kentucky (13), North Carolina (12), Iowa and Texas (11 each), Missouri (10), Oregon and Maine (9 each), Michigan (9). Of these, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Maine disclosed zero salaries. Iowa is the one state where volume and disclosed pay agree with each other.
👉 Compare Orthopedics compensation and opportunities by region

What This Means If You’re a Physician

If your priority is maximum compensation: The highest-paying listings sit in West Islip, NY, where both Tandym Health and CompHealth are advertising Orthopedics roles at $850,000 flat. Dekalb, IL, via Accolades Physician Resources, offers $725,000 to $875,000. Iowa and Oregon each have single listings at $850,000 and $810,000, respectively.

If your priority is maximum optionality: Kentucky (13), North Carolina (12), Texas (11), and Missouri (10) offer the deepest inventories. You will have to ask about salary yourself — none of them disclosed.

If your priority is balance: New York offers rare density and disclosure together — 19 listings, 17 with salary data, averaging north of $648,000. Colorado and Missouri offer credible mid-market pay with reasonable volume.

Cost-of-living flag: California and Massachusetts pay below the national average in two of the most expensive states in the country. Do the math before you sign.
👉 Search Orthopedics jobs by location and compensation

What This Means If You’re a Recruiter

Salary transparency rate: 36 of 226 listings, or 15.9%. Roughly one in six.

That is a candidate-pipeline problem. Orthopedic surgeons are among the most selective specialists in medicine, and 84% of the Orthopedics market is asking them to apply without a number. Expect drop-off.

The volume-pay misalignment is stark. Kentucky leads the nation in listings and discloses nothing. North Carolina and Texas do the same. If you are recruiting into these markets, compensation cannot be your opening argument — because you have not made one. Lead instead with case mix, call structure, subspecialty support, partnership track, and signing incentives. The candidates you want already know what the money should look like. They are waiting to see what else you brought.
👉 Post Orthopedics positions on PhysEmp

What’s Driving the Numbers

Scope and geography command a premium. The top of the market — Iowa, Oregon, West Virginia, Dekalb — is not clustered in coastal metros. It is scattered across mid-sized and rural markets where a single orthopedist covers a wide catchment. Scarcity, not prestige, is doing the pricing.

The floor is likely distorted by part-time and specialized roles. Listings at $350,000 to $400,000 in Maryland, New Jersey, and Vermont sit so far below the national average that they almost certainly reflect reduced FTE, hospitalist-style coverage, or narrow subspecialty scope. Treat the floor with suspicion.

Underserved markets are pricing in scarcity, loudly. West Virginia at $700,000 to $800,000 and rural Iowa at $850,000 are not accidents. They are the market telling you exactly what it costs to convince a fellowship-trained orthopedist to relocate somewhere without a direct flight.

The volume-pay relationship is broken. High-volume states are, on average, the least transparent. The specialty’s biggest employers appear to have collectively decided that posting a salary is optional — which works until candidates decide that applying is also optional.

The Bottom Line

Orthopedics remains one of the most lucrative specialties in medicine, with a disclosed ceiling near seven figures and a floor that clears $350,000. But the market’s defining feature in 2026 is not pay — it is opacity. Five of the top ten states by volume disclosed nothing. The physicians willing to look past the silence, negotiate hard, and consider a small town in Iowa or a hospital in West Virginia will find the real money. Everyone else will keep applying blind.

In Orthopedics, the highest-paying jobs are in places you have not heard of, posted by employers who told you exactly what they would pay — while the biggest employers in the country told you nothing at all.
👉 Browse all Orthopedics physician jobs
👉 Upload your CV to get matched with opportunities
👉 Set alerts for new Orthopedics roles

Salary data based on 36 listings with disclosed compensation. Figures may reflect part-time or specialized roles. This report is informational and should not replace professional judgment or financial planning.